Why So Few Female Politician Sex Scandals?

From Mark Sanford to Eliot Spitzer to John Ensign to John Edwards to Bill Clinton, the American political
system offers no shortage of male sex scandals. But what about the
ladies? Why don't they ever have any salacious and news-worthy
rolls in the hay, NPR Senior News Analyst Cokie Roberts recently asked
to a panel of female Senators. OK, we'll bite. What's the answer?

Sen.
Kirsten Gillibrand: We're Too Busy The New York Democrat, present
at Roberts' panel, answered, "You're in the middle of
diapers and bottles and bills and votes and markups, how could you
possibly think about doing anything else?" Texas Republican Kay Bailey
Hutchison agreed.

Dana Perino: Proof We Need More Women in
Gov't As Think Progress' Amanda Terkel recounts, "In
reaction to South Carolina Mark Sanford's (R) extramarital affair last
year, former Bush press secretary Dana Perino said the answer was to '[e]lect more
women. No woman I know has the time for such trysts, nor do I know
any who say the desire one. They’re too busy trying to keep all the
plates spinning at home, at work, and at the gym to make sure none fall
and break.'"

The Stats Just Make Women Look Less Scandal-RiddenMatthew Yglesias shrugs.
"But as best I can tell research indicates that married women are just
as likely to cheat as married men, and certainly it seems to me
that the men of the US Senate are also quite busy. I’m really not sure
the sample size is anywhere near large enough to draw any conclusions
about important women in politics having affairs." He reminds us, "the
vast majority of male politicians are never embroiled in a sex
scandal—possibly because the vast majority of male politicians don’t do
any scandalous stuff."

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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